Playoffs: Colts will face Bengals-Steelers loser

Andrew Luck and the Colts pulled off a stunning comeback last year in the playoffs vs. Kansas City. Who will Indy play this year?(Photo: Mike Fender / The Star)

The Indianapolis Colts will host the loser of Sunday's Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game in the first round of the playoffs Jan. 3 or 4. The winner will be the AFC North champion and third seed. The Colts beat Cincinnati 27-0 on Oct. 19 and lost to Pittsburgh 51-34 the following week.

The Cincinnati Bengals' victory over Denver on Monday night greatly simplified the Colts' playoff scenarios and makes their game in Tennessee meaningless for playoff seeding.

New England will be the top seed. If Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh and Denver loses to Oakland, the Bengals are the No. 2 seed, the Broncos fall to No. 3.

Tickets for the Colts' home playoff game are now available at Ticketmaster locations, the Lucas Oil Stadium ticket office and Colts.com. All Wild Card Weekend playoff dates and times will be finalized Sunday evening.

Four teams are in the running for the final AFC playoff spot: San Diego, Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston.

If San Diego and Baltimore finish 10-6, San Diego advances due to a victory over the Ravens in the regular season.

If Kansas City defeats San Diego, the Chargers are eliminated by the division tiebreaker. Baltimore and Houston can also finish 9-7. In a three-way tie, Houston advances. If only Kansas City and Baltimore finish 9-7, Kansas City advances due to a regular season victory over the Ravens.

Miami and Buffalo can also finish 9-7 but there is no scenario in which either makes the playoffs.